Consumption of Local Foods: Unpremeditated, Abetted, or Deliberate? A Case of Nairobi and Machakos (Kenya)

Abstract

Locavores is a term often using to describe a person who diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food. There are numerous definitions of "local food," but the concept is primarily based on distance. Many people prefer to buy food locally, beginning in their own community and progressing to the region, province, country, and so on. Consumption of local food products is defined as products manufactured in a given geographical space using methods, tools, and unique materials to that space. This research focuses on local food products and the objective of this study is to identify the various types of local food selections in Kenya, additionally, assessing the factors that influence them. The research problem was to identify the measurements of the population’s growing interest in its products and determine whether it’s unpremeditated option, abetted by external stimuli or reasoned choice. The investigation was conducted on an exploratory study with twenty semi-structured interviews, and we used the quantitative research with 860 respondents. The individual motivations have a positive effect on reasoned choices; marketing stimuli, on the other hand, only have an effect on assisted and spontaneously option. Collective motivations have no effect on rational decision. Individual motivations trump reasoned choice, indicating that socially responsible consumption linked to well-being is the most developed.